"Bedoop." That might be the sound that someone might hear as they lazily place a magazine advertisement in front of their desktop camera. Magically, the marketing and sales web site associated with the ad is displayed on their computer. More information? Want to buy now? Look at the full product line? No problem.
"Bedoop." That might be the same sound when that same someone places their credit card in front of their desktop camera. Instantly, the product displayed on the web page is purchased. Behind the scenes, a secure purchase link is initiated, transmitting all requisite information to the vendor. Twist the credit card clockwise and the purchaser chooses overnight delivery.
So goes an exemplary embodiment of the invention further described in this application. Though this example is rather specific, it nevertheless alludes to an indescribably vast array of applications possible when a digital camera or other optical sensing device is turned into a general purpose user interface device with an intuitive power that very well might rival the mouse and the keyboard.
The centerpiece of the invention is that an object or paper product so-scanned contains digital information that can be quickly read and acted upon by an appropriately configured device, computer or appliance. The preferred embodiment envisions that this digital information is aesthetically hidden on objects. These objects have been previously and pro-actively marked with the digital information, using any of the broad ranges of printing and processing techniques which are available on the market and which are widely described in the open literature and patent literature surrounding digital watermarking.
Be this as it may, though the invention concentrates on flat object applications wherein the digital information is often imperceptibly integrated into the object, it is certainly not meant to be so limited. Objects can be three dimensional in nature and the information more visually overt and/or pre-existing (i.e., not "pro-actively" embedded, or not even be "digital," per se). Different implementation considerations attach to these variants. Likewise, though the bulk of this disclosure concentrates on objects which have some form of digital message attached thereto, some aspects of the invention may apply to objects which have no such thing, where the prior arts of pattern recognition and gestural input can be borrowed in combination with this invention to effect yet a broader array of applications.
"Bedoop." The sound that a refrigerator might make, outfitted with a simple camera/processor unit/net connection, as the ten year old holds up the empty milk carton and a ping goes out to the local grocery store, adding the item to an accumulating delivery list. The sound that might be heard echoing over and over inside Internet cafes as heretofore computerphobes take their first skeptical steps onto the world wide web. The sound heard at the fast food counter as the repeat customer holds up their sandwich card ticking off their latest meal, hoping for the sirens to go off for a $500 prize given to the lucky customer of the week. Blue sky scenarios abound.
This invention is therefore about powerful new user interfaces to computers involving optical input. These new user interfaces extend into the everyday world in ways that a mouse and keyboard never could. By enabling everyday objects to communicate their identities and functions to ever-attendant devices, not only will the world wide web be given an entirely new dimension, but basic home and office computing may be in store for some fundamental advances as well.
These and a great many other features of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.